The First Step
"The First Step" is the fourth episode of RWBY Volume 1, which premiered on the Rooster Teeth website on August 8th, 2013. Summary Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie wake up and get ready for the Beacon Academy Initiation. While they retrieve their weapons in the locker room, Nora attempts to form a plan to ensure they will be partners for their time at Beacon Academy. Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long walk past the pair, having a conversation of their own. Yang stresses to Ruby how important it is to socialize with other people to grow up. When Ruby insists that she does not need help growing up, Yang brings up the recent rumors about teams being formed. Ruby nervously hopes to be paired with Yang, only to find that Yang wants her to team with someone else to break out of her shell. Meanwhile, Jaune Arc is searching confusedly for his locker, while Weiss Schnee talks to Pyrrha Nikos in the hopes of forging a partnership with her. Weiss believes that, with her intelligence and Pyrrha's unrivaled strength and skill, they will be at the top of the class, be the envy of the other students and have perfect grades. Pyrrha, however, wishes for the surprise of a random partner. Soon, Jaune, who still believes Weiss genuinely called him cute, walks in on their conversation, hoping to form a team with Weiss. When Pyrrha states the possibility of a four-member team, Jaune suddenly shifts his attention to her. Weiss tells him that Pyrrha is out of his league by explaining her status as a celebrity fighter with a four-time championship in the Mistral Region Tournament. However, Pyrrha gives him encouragement, and he once again turns flirtatious toward Weiss, with Pyrrha responding to the latter's request for help by pinning the former to a wall with her spear. Soon after, Glynda Goodwitch announces over an intercom that all the first-year students are to report to Beacon Cliff for their initiation. Later, on the cliffs, Glynda informs the students that they will be given teammates today, and Ozpin announces that these partnerships will last for the four-year duration of their studies at Beacon, stressing the importance of having a partner that they can work well with. He goes on to state that the partners will be decided by the first person a student makes eye contact with after they land in the Emerald Forest. Since there will be opposition, he advises that the initiates do not hesitate to destroy everything in their path, as the possibility of dying is very real, due to the instructors who observe them abstaining from intervention. The objective is to seek a "relic", one per pair of partners, in a temple on the other end of the forest and return to the cliff with it in their possession. Jaune asks Ozpin a few questions, and he soon discovers that everyone will be catapulted into the forest, with Ozpin expecting them to use "landing strategies" to save themselves. Before Jaune can finish asking what a landing strategy is, he is sent flying. Transcript }} Characters *Lie Ren *Ruby Rose *Yang Xiao Long - *Jaune Arc *Pyrrha Nikos *Weiss Schnee *Ozpin *Glynda Goodwitch }} Minor Characters * Cardin Winchester * Russel Thrush Trivia * Blake Belladonna was not seen in this episode or listed in the credits. However Kerry Shawcross posted an image on Twitter saying that Blake was "in the back", with an arrow pointing to one of the silhouettes in the background. **Also, while Blake was not shown directly in this episode, her silhouette in the album art for her song, "From Shadows", is seen during the ending credits. *Jaune's locker number is 636, a reference to the address of Rooster Teeth Productions at the time. *Nora is seen holding a tube of Shi-nee Toothpaste. In the brand name, the "S" is red and the remaining letters are blue, similar to the real world "Crest" brand logo. A Schnee snowflake appears on the end of the tube. Crest frequently uses a starburst on their products, and a snowflake could be a possible reference to the Schnee Dust Company. *Monty Oum stated that Jaune is speared by Pyrrha in the locker room to establish that she can do this without killing him, and that it's an OK thing between them. This makes it less contrived when Pyrrha spears him to help him during the Beacon Initiation. *Yang's sunglasses are an homage to the film ''Top Gun''. *The event of "The First Step" are re-told in Chapter 2 from RWBY: The Official Manga. See Also *Commentaries **Directors *Inconsistencies Image Gallery 1104 The First Step 01082.png|Good morning! Good morning! 1104 The First Step 02009.png|Breakfast conversation 1104 The First Step 02558.png|The StormFlowers 1104 The First Step 04621.png|Jaune, after getting lost again! 1104 The First Step 04814.png|Weiss being friendly 1104 The First Step 05866.png|Weiss reveals her scheme 1104 The First Step 06677.png|"Not on my watch!" 1104 The First Step 07371.png|"SHE'S THE PUMPKIN PETE'S MASCOT!" 1104 The First Step 08681.png|Jaune "gets the point" 1104 The First Step 09428.png|"Your mission, should you choose to accept it..." 1104 The First Step 09505.png|Blake! Where are you!? 1104 The First Step 12949.png|Ozpin and his complete apathy towards his students. Video References Category:Episodes Category:Volume 1